


Anakin's Intelligence

by WingletBlackbird



Series: Anakin Skywalker's Character [1]
Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Archived From Tumblr, Gen, Meta Essay, Nonfiction, cross-posted from tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 12:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16994802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingletBlackbird/pseuds/WingletBlackbird
Summary: An essay that explores how Anakin is not unintelligent, but rather is a victim who was taken advantage of from childhood.





	Anakin's Intelligence

Something that truly upsets me, (unless it’s in the right context), is the accepted presumption that Anakin is unintelligent, even downright stupid, that seems to pervade fandom. Anakin is not stupid. He was a very intelligent, and insightful individual. We see this from the beginning:

  * He builds his own podracer
  * He figures out Qui-Gon is a Jedi
  * But waits until the opportune moment to reveal it
  * He uses his own value as a slave to hold over Sebulba’s head in a fight
  * He tricks Watto a whole lot
  * He can fly basically anything-which is not easy, especially at nine
  * He tells Jar Jar that Sebulba was trying to conquer his own fear by crushing others. That’s very insightful.
  * He tells the Council that Padme won’t agree to leave Coruscant without being pressured. 
  * He, not Obi-Wan, figures out the best places to target the Separatists on Geonosis. Obi-Wan calls it a “good call.”
  * He’s a gifted military strategist. We see plenty of evidence of this.
  * He also is a good engineer
  * etc. etc.



Basically, what I’m saying is Anakin was a prodigy who was also very insightful. Anakin was in no way an idiot. 

The reason Anakin, so far as I can tell, is perceived as an idiot is because he was manipulated by Palpatine. This reasoning disturbs me. Anakin is about 9-12 years old when Palpatine starts taking an active interest in him, (depending on which canon or legends sources you go by.) Palpatine is also quite an intelligent man. He doesn’t do anything that could really set Anakin’s alarms going off initially, not unless you’re wise to him, like we are, and know what’s up. Anakin is a child here. He is an insecure child at that. His Master, Obi-Wan, whom he trusts, has told him, and  _allowed_ him, to spend time with Palpatine. Why should he mistrust an adult his guardian has allowed him to spend time with? I certainly didn’t mistrust my baby-sitters growing up, because my parents brought them into my life. Anakin, like any child with his background, is starved for some genuine attention, validation, and affection. Palpatine plays on that masterfully and uses it against him. This does not make Anakin stupid! It makes him a victim. Few children, especially in Anakin’s situation, wouldn’t have enjoyed Palpatine’s attention. Perhaps I am entirely misinterpreting what I have encountered in fandom, but the perception that I have encountered that Anakin is downright stupid, because of his friendship with Palpatine, bothers me. Don’t blame the victim,  _who was a child might I add_ when the predatory relationship began! It’s not Anakin’s fault he was taken advantage of. He can be blamed for many things, but he is no way responsible for what Palpatine did to him.

Truthfully whenever I read anything between Palpatine and Anakin, especially a young!Anakin, it really skeeves me out. It makes me sick to my stomach to see a child who trusts the adults in his life, (as most children do), be taken advantage of. It’s repulsive, and I have honestly teared up over it at times. It’s so horrific. Anakin is so young, earnest, and well-meaning. He’s a sweetheart, and I have to watch while he gets manipulated by a Sith, and no one bothers to look into the situation. Very few children, especially one’s who have a history like Anakin, are going to clue in that they’re being used until it is much too late. What I see is a tragedy. I don’t dismiss Anakin and say he was a easily-manipulated fool. I don’t believe he was stupid. (Besides, he almost doesn’t fall in RoTS, and it took Palpatine years of work to get him there.) All I see is a small boy who was preyed on by a much older man with ill intentions. It truly disgusts me to watch any scene with him and Palpatine together, and I loathe that anyone would call Anakin stupid for it. The fault for the manipulations lies with Palpatine, (and the Jedi Council/Obi-Wan for letting a young child spend time with a man whose intentions they didn’t trust.) You can blame Anakin for many things, but you should’t blame him for that. He isn’t stupid. He is a victim.


End file.
